The UK will strike first in cyber warfare, says foreign secretary

THE UK has developed weapons to counter the threat from hackers and will strike first to protect itself, according to Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Hague has warned that the Government is investing heavily in deterrents but admitted he could not be certain they would be sufficient in repelling cyber attacks.

He told the Sun, "We will defend ourselves in every way we can, not only to deflect but to prevent attacks that we know are taking place.

"We are trying to prevent an arms race in cyber space. Given that the internet changes every day and billions more people will have access to it over the coming years, the potential for that arms race to grow and go out of control is enormous.

"There is no 100 per cent defence against this, just as there isn't against any other form of attack. We have to defend critical national infrastructure. We have to defend national security. We have to defend our entire commercial and economic system."

Hague added that although the UK Government is determined that such major attacks will not get through, "you now have to assume that they will be attempted".

The Government is investing an extra £650m on developing deterrents to hostile viruses and hackers. A recent defence review ranked the threat of cyber attacks to the UK as Tier One. Whatever that's supposed to mean, clearly it has meant spending another £650m on defence contractors. µ